Commitment to equality

Saturday

Oct 23, 2010 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Earlier this week at San Joaquin Delta College, someone asked Brian Wick to sign a faux marriage certificate, drawn up for a couple taking part in a wedding demonstration staged by the gay and lesbian student group that Wick leads.

Jennifer Torres

STOCKTON - Earlier this week at San Joaquin Delta College, someone asked Brian Wick to sign a faux marriage certificate, drawn up for a couple taking part in a wedding demonstration staged by the gay and lesbian student group that Wick leads.

To him, the event - and the group's resurgence - should be considered within a context that includes reports of teenage suicide and bullying, angst over the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, and the unresolved legal status of same-sex marriage.

It's what people are talking about, he said, and he wants to be a part of the conversation: "We need this on campus. ... We need to be out there."

Delta College's gay and lesbian student association has existed on campus in other forms: First, as Bisexuals, Gays and Lesbians at Delta, and later, as a chapter of the national Gay-Straight Alliance.

In its current incarnation, the group is known as Delta Pride.

The tagline on its website reads, "Equality through visibility."

It was at the end of summer, Wick said, that club members rallied to be more active on campus than they had been in the past.

"It definitely had to do with the energy of the members," he said. "There's so much going on now."

A day earlier, they had staged another demonstration, this one in remembrance of gay teens whose suicides have been attributed to bullying. Chalk outlines of bodies drawn on the pavement to represent those deaths remained on the Delta quad.

Stephanie Haskin, 27, officiated some of the club's weddings. She has been a member for three years, she said, and even has taken a turn leading the group.

She said she is encouraged by its recent activity.

"It's really brought us to the forefront," she said. "I know a lot of faculty and staff have been talking about it."

Last week, the Stonewall Democratic Club honored Wick, 20, with a leadership award for his work at Delta.

Susan Eggman, a Stockton City Councilwoman who is part of the club, said efforts to support gay and lesbian teens and young adults are ongoing but need to be strengthened.

Wick, who grew up in Stockton, said he agreed.

"I was figuring out my sexuality when the first marriages in San Francisco were happening," he said.